Don't know how to feel about this. I'm sure it's a bluff, but as a Disneyhater™ I would love to see Disney lose some of its power in Florida. I think that would be fucking hilarious. Kneecaping a massive corporation to own the libs.

  • silent_water [she/her]
    ·
    2 years ago

    DeSantis announced on Tuesday that the GOP-controlled Legislature during this week’s special session will take up a bill that would dismantle the special district that has allowed Disney to operate its own local government in central Florida that is the home to Walt Disney World.

    wait what? a private corporation runs its own local government?

    holy shit let them fight.

    • came_apart_at_Kmart [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      strap the fuck in: they have their own police force. Disney is very proud of its claim that "no one has ever died in a Disney theme park" even though Florida has among the worst consumer protection and safety regulations for theme parks and rides. there's a rumor that clearly dead people, whenever possible, are moved off theme park property before being pronounced dead.

      the police force has been the subject of critical reporting for being more aggressive than Florida law enforcement at large, if you can imagine that. there was much brow furrowing in the regional paper 30 years ago, when Reedy Creek Police (Disney's corporate controlled police force with full police powers) continued to engage in high speed pursuit over stolen Disney property resulting in high profile roadside fatalities several years after Florida adopted a "don't high speed chase over suspected infractions below a certain level of danger" policy due to public endangerment.

      additionally and among other powers (levy taxes, build power plants, etc), being a registered municipal district allowed them to access state bond mechanisms to borrow money at subsidized interest rates for such development. basically, extremely cheap loans that are supposed to be used to like build schools and roads and shit.

      it really should not be called the State of Florida so much as the City-State of Disney to acknowledge how much control over the government they exert.

      relatedly, the laws that would become the "Right to Work" union-banning package were first tested in Florida in 1948, at a time when Florida was the least populated state in the southeastern US and probably just a few years before it was on the Disney radar as a site for its future HQ. it has been developed since its days as a malarial zone for rum-running, swamp land speculation, and robber baron experimentation into the 3rd most populace state (NY is #4) and the crown jewel of undemocratic, anti-worker and reactionary political projects in the US. a phenomenal amount of legal and illegal imports move through Florida. like California, it is part of 4 designated and distinct HIDTAs, though it is less than half the size of California. not to mention the outsize role Florida plays in national presidential politics or how it's supreme court chose the president of the US in 2000.

      i hope DeSantis and his Q Army of Chuds go all in on fighting Disney and the two political projects mortally wound each other. a significant weakening of both is really the only shot Florida has of establishing some kind of humanitarian focused plan for climate adaptation where possible and facilitating resettlement for the displaced where it's not. otherwise, it's going to go extremely poorly for everyone not connected and propertied enough to get a federal flood insurance check when the first truly big one hits.

        • came_apart_at_Kmart [he/him, comrade/them]
          ·
          2 years ago

          i think you mean the magic of Disney kept them alive until they were no longer under the loving eye of Mickey Mouse. because no one can die at Disney. even that kid who got decapitated on Space Mountain.

        • MolotovHalfEmpty [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Hasn't there been decapitations at Disney though or is that just urban myth? I'd call that pretty dead unless Walt is willing to share his jar and freezer with any decapitated tourists until they can get them off Disney Land.

          • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
            ·
            edit-2
            2 years ago

            Hasn’t there been decapitations at Disney though or is that just urban myth?

            Who the hell can even say? I'm sure Politico would award the claim seven Pinocchios after citing a Disney Press Release that reads "Nuh-uh, didn't happen". After that, unless someone caught it on video or a flood of tourists came running out the front gate screaming and covered in blood, I doubt we'd ever know.

            I doubt this happened recently, if for no other reason than someone with a cell phone would have captured it, though.

      • AcidSmiley [she/her]
        ·
        2 years ago

        there was much brow furrowing in the regional paper 30 years ago, when Reedy Creek Police (Disney’s corporate controlled police force with full police powers) continued to engage in high speed pursuit over stolen Disney property resulting in high profile roadside fatalities several years after Florida adopted a “don’t high speed chase over suspected infractions below a certain level of danger” policy due to public endangerment.

        let me get this right, this means the Disney cops ran people over in a high speed chase because they suspected somebody was trying to get away with stolen mouse ears from the disney world gift shop? wtf?

    • effervescent [they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      There are places all over the US where special districts are declared and law enforcement is ceded to private entities.